According to Paknejad, the newly discovered Pazen field, situated
approximately 21 kilometers from the city of Jam in Bushehr Province, adds an
estimated 10 trillion cubic feet (TCF) of gas to Iran’s in-place reserves. This
discovery follows the resumption of exploration operations after an eight-year
hiatus, with the drilling and testing of the second exploratory well confirming
substantial gas and oil potential.
“To visualize the scale of this discovery,” the minister explained,
“the Pazen field’s 10 TCF of gas, assuming a 70% recovery factor, translates to
around 7 TCF of recoverable gas — equivalent to nearly 7,000 days of production
from one South Pars phase, or roughly 17 to 18 years of output from a single
phase of that field.”
Paknejad announced that the development contract for the Pazen gas and
oil field has already been awarded and that operational work will begin soon,
with production expected to commence within 40 months.
He further noted that for the first time, the exploration team of the National
Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) successfully drilled into a horizontal oil-bearing
layer estimated to contain at least 200 million barrels of crude oil, with
potential for larger reserves pending further studies.
Emphasizing the strategic value of this achievement, Paknejad stated:
“Iran holds the world’s second-largest gas reserves, and this new
addition strengthens our position while providing vital support to address future
energy imbalances.”
The minister expressed his gratitude to the exploration teams and
dedicated the discovery to the people of Iran, calling it “a remarkable
national achievement that reaffirms the country’s capabilities in advanced
energy exploration.”